Why is Arabic or Hebrew Written From Right to Left? [Good Idea Series]

Hebrew Calligraphy

One of the reason comes from our brain. Our brain is divided into two parts, left-hemisphere and right-hemisphere.

The left hemisphere handles what is said (text); the right hemisphere focuses on how it's said (context)- the nonverbal, often emotional cues delivered through gaze, facial expression, and intonation.

Robert Ornstein

The text/context distinction, originally put forward by Robert Ornstein, apllies more broadly. For instance, certain written languanges depend heavily on context. Languanges such as Arabic and Hebrew are often written only in consonants, which means the reader must figure out what the vowel (a,i,u,e,&o) is by the surrounding concepts and ideas. [1]

In those langaunges, if you read the equivalent of "stmp n th bg", you'd fill in different vowels depending on whether the phrase appeared in pest control manual ("stomp on the bug") or short story about a trip to the post office ("stamp in the bag"). Unlike English, languanges that require the reader to supply the vowels by discerning the context are usually written from right to left. [2]

As we know, moving one's eyes in that direction (right to left) depends on the brain's right hemisphere.

Cheers,

Albert


References:
[1] Pink, Daniel H. The Whole New Mind. New York: Penguin. 1989, Chap.1
[2] Ornstein, Robert. The Right Mind: Making Sense of the Hemisphere. California: Harcourt Brace & Company. 1997, p.37.

A young woman practicing kanji.
Ukiyo-e woodblock print by Yōshū Chikanobu, 1897

Another example: "Japanese use both a phonetic script (kana) and a pictographic script (kanji). Research shows that kana is better processed in the left hemisphere, while kanji is better handled by the right." See Reference [2] Ornstein, p.41

"Crab Mayo Salad with Avocado" [Sharing Recipe and The Goodness of Life ^^]

Yeah... it's cooking time! lol

Crab Mayo Salad with Avocado.
This recipe is really really a great combination of taste (Crab+Mayo) and texture (Crab+Avocado).

It tastes fresh, sweet, hot and heaven! hahahaha Frankly, I took this picture below from internet since I forget to take a picture of the salad that I made. ^^

Crab Mayo Salad with Avocado

Ingredients:

• Crab sticks
• Mayonaise
• Salt (add it according to your taste preference)
• White/black Pepper (add it according to your taste preference)
• Parsley (You can buy it in the Ranch Market) or celery (You can buy it in a traditional market).
• Avocado (Have you heard that an avocado is the best friend of a crab? Yes it is ^^. And it's also healthy in balancing the mayonaise ^^ )
• Lemon Juice 

Tips:

1. White/black pepper gives you an IMAGINARY heat in your food. If you want a REAL heat, you may add red chili pepper (powder form) in food.* 
2. White pepper is same as "Merica" or "Lada Putih" in Malay. By the way, black pepper gives you more complex and better taste than white pepper but not every people fit with black pepper.

*Every ingredients in this writing can be obtained in traditional or super-market.

Have fun!

Cheers,

Albert

How to Learn any Foreign Languange (esp. in Speaking and Listening) Easier and Faster? This Method Shows You How.

Learn any language faster and easier with Pimsleur's Method.

Do you want to learn any new languanges faster and better especially in speaking and listening? Let us introduce you a proven method that's really awesome to learn any new languanges.

The method is called Pimsleur Method [1]. It's based on 50 years of scientific research. Since it is a very remarkable method, it has been used by the FBI to teach their agents a new languange [2]. You may watch the video for some interesting information about it (just watch for the first 7 minutes is more than enough).







Testimony:

I have tried this Pimseleur method to learn Chinese Mandarin. Well, Trust me! It works very great. It is a short and manangeable lesson. I can speak better now eventough I still need to learn a lot. hohohoho
Subsequently, I start to recognize Chinese words and phrases better too when I listened to Chinese Radio Program.

For Chinese, there are three Pimsleur Level (Level 1, 2, and 3). I take the level 1 (30 days courses) from their official website http://www.pimsleur.com/ Yes, it's not free. But don't you think communication and languange are a very good invesment for your future?

Hope it is useful for you.
Cheers ^^

Albert


Reference:
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pimsleur_method
[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/29/travel/paths-to-a-more-fluent-vacation.html?_r=0